THE BEETLE 



75 



Fig. 83.— 

 Anatis ocel- 

 kita. Adult. 

 Nat- size. 

 Photo, by 

 V. H. L. 



at the mouth of their burrows for other insects upon which 

 they feed. Carabid beetles are said to ascend trees in search 

 of canker-worms. Larvje of ground-beetles prey upon the 

 pupating plum Curculios, and other 

 beetles eat cutworms. 



One beetle, the bhster-beetle, 

 known in the markets as the Span- 

 ish fly, has been for ages used as a 

 drug. When disturbed, there ex- 

 ^rf An^JoS- udes from the joints of this insect 

 lata on a leaf, a liquid Serving as a protection, 



Nat. size.. . 



Photo, by smce it burns or bhsters the disturber, ihis 

 ^- ^- ^- property is retained in the dried substance. The 



article sold in drug stores is obtained from crushing the dried 

 beetle. The larva of various beetles have ijeen prized as food 

 by certain peoples from the Romans of Pliny's time clown to 

 the present, for they are eaten with rehsh by certain tribes of 

 South American Indians. Fireflies sewit in lace are sometimes 

 worn by the Spanish and Cuban women as adornments for 

 evening dresses, while other beetles with particularly hard 

 and beautifully colored and iridescent iving-covers are used 

 as settings in hat ornaments and buckles, as well as in 

 jewelry. 



